whitewolffandomcom-20200213-history
Di Tan
In the common parlance of the Hsien, Di Tan is Earth Alchemy: a branch of Wu Tan that deals with the Element of Earth and its correspondences. Overview Masters of Di Tan are often wise councillors or, at times, fearsome mandarins. The Yü particularly consider Masters of Earth to be insightful, balanced rulers. Many hsien will flock to the yellow banner of such a one. Earth represents all rock, soil, stone, gems, and minerals. Earth is the center of all the elements and the fulcrum of Chinese perceptions of the world. It represents the Middle Kingdom itself. Earth Soul The Earth Soul of a sentient creature governs wisdom, insight, understanding, and common sense. It governs the ability to make wise choices. Leaders, priests, and advisors often have powerful Earth Souls. It also includes the Intelligence Attribute. People often say more or less about a subject than they know. Musing on a person's Earth Soul can reveal this. Enlarging a person's Earth Soul will help them make wise choices while Diminishing it will cause making wise decisions to be more difficult. Attributes * Virtue -''' None. Earth is Balanced between Yin and Yang. * 'Constructive Cohorts -' Fire and Metal * 'Adversary -' As Earth touches all the elements, any can be used to defend against it. Wood, though, as it depletes the soil, gains an automatic success and is the ideal adversary. * 'Yin Attribute -' Intelligence * 'Yang Attribute -' Intelligence Fortunes * 'Color -' Yellow * 'Direction -' Center * 'Dzi Dzat -' Pictures of Earth things or origami gems * 'Festivals -' Any seasonal or harvest festival; festivals honoring the god Hou T'u or the emperor Huang Ti; First Moon, Second Moon, Twelfth Moon * 'Kwannon-jin -' Komuko and Hanumen gain an automatic Fortune when using Di Tan * 'Mu-jen -' No particular mu-jen are noted * 'Poetry -' Solid, simple, formal poems celebrating the earth * 'Season -' All seasons * 'Sense -' Smell * 'Skills -' Mining, Gem Carving, Herbalism, Sculpture, Classics, Law, Research, etc... I Chih For more information on all levels, see the page on '''Wu Tan. Level 1: The Prodigal Tongue * Commune With Earth / Entreat the Yellow Mandarins -''' The alchemist may speak with the objects of Earth or Stone, etc... but inanimate objects do not have all the senses humans do. They would know what they feel... the weight of the person walking on them for the ground or the size of the person by how much light they block for a gem. They also can sense smells and whether someone was acting wisely or not. * 'Read Earth Soul -' See above. * 'Speak With Jimu-Tenno -' The Alchemist can speak with Di Shen. This may only happen if the spirit is materialized or the Alchemist can see beyond the Wall. Level 2: Command Elemental Vassals * 'Dispel Di Shen -' The Alchemist may dispel Earth Spirits. * 'Summon Di Shen / Command the Vassals of Tu Ti -' The Alchemist can summon and command Di Shen. This usually requires bargaining and sacrifice unless the Hsien is a Komuko or Hanuman in which case they may command. * 'Diminish/Nurture Earth Soul -' As above. * 'Increase/Decrease Intelligence / Wisdom of T'u/Monkey King's Mark -' The Alchemist may increase or decrease the Intelligence Attribute of his or her target. * 'Summon the Dragon Boat -' The Alchemist may summon transportation along a Dragon Line that passes though the Earth or mountains. This can only be done at a Dragon Nest. Level 3: Raiment of the Elements * 'The Enfolded Stone / Song of Song Jiang -' The Alchemist may hide object governed by earth within his or her own body. The Hanumen learned a trick from the god Song Jiang that lets them hide stolen gems in this way. * 'Path of Earth / Remove Cement Boots -' The Alchemist can travel through any of the elements associated with Earth. The Hanuman Chang Cheng used this I Chih to escape from a gang that gave him cement boots and threw him into the harbor. * 'Earth Form/Earth Fist / Stone Cracker -' The Alchemist may change all or part of his body temporarily to Earth. Neither the Komuko nor the Hanumen are particularly martial but some of the Hanumen are known to make their fists momentarily stone to crack particularly tough nuts. * 'Mask Elemental Soul / Mask of the Sage -' The Alchemist may hide their Earth Soul behind a facade. Hanumen are particularly fond of making others think that they know more than they actually do. (They rarely like to actually make themselves wiser with lower levels of Di Tan.) Level 4: Awaken the Elements * 'Awaken True Jade -' The Alchemist can awaken yellow jade. * 'Move Earth -' The Alchemist can move objects bound by Earth as with Psychokinesis. Komuko sculptors find this handy for moving their creations. * 'Shape/Sunder Earth -' While this power can have many creative applications it can also be used by an angered Komuko to create earthquakes while benevolent ones can create new passes through the mountains. * 'Summon Earth -' For those times when you must have that sparkly diamond in the vault. * 'Repair Earth Soul / Sooth Insanity - '''Komuko healers are known to return wisdom and common sense to those who have been traumatized. With enough prayers and a little luck even Malkavians or Marauders could be temporarily made more lucid. Level 5: Master the Elements, Throne of Jade * '''Exchange Properties -' With this I Chih stone can be made as pliable as clay and diamonds as brittle as talcum. * 'Transmute Earth -' With this effect a playful Hanuman can turn a handful of pebbles into gems.... until the magic wears off and the recipient realizes they have been tricked. * 'Transmute Elemental -' Through a Cohort effect the occasional fickle Fire or nostalgic Metal elemental can taste what it means to be Earth for a period of time or a Granite Spirit learn what it is to be the slightly more active Serpentine spirit. References # CTD. '''Land of Eight Million Dreams, pp. 13, 98-99, 113-114. Category:Arts (CTD)